County Council distributes informational brochure on Pennsylvania’s new Voter ID Law

With the general election less than two months away, Delaware County Council is distributing an informational brochure detailing Pennsylvania’s new Voter ID law. The brochure is part of the County’s awareness campaign to ensure that all voters are informed of new Voter ID requirements in Pennsylvania.

The county Bureau of Elections and the Voter Registration Department is conducting a multi-prong educational campaign that includes outreach to senior centers and senior living facilities, additional training for poll workers, and presentations to community groups.

The detailed brochure is being distributed to senior facilities, municipal offices and libraries. People can also get the brochure through the County Bureau of Elections at the Government Center.

The Pennsylvania Voter ID law was enacted on March 15, making Pennsylvania the 16th state in the nation to require voters to show photo identification at the polls starting with the November general election. Since then, there have been changes in the process and legal challenges in the courts, making it confusing for voters to be assured they have the right identification to be able to cast their ballot.

“The bottom line is that no one will be denied the right to vote on Nov. 6,” said County Councilman David White, Council’s liaison to the Election Bureau and Voter Registration. “We’ve received many calls from our residents who have questions about the new law. We want to make sure that people have the correct information on what constitutes acceptable photo ID, how they obtain a photo ID and how the new law impacts people who vote by absentee ballot,” White said.

“Our county website has extensive information on the law, links to the state’s website and printable forms that people might need,” Councilman White said. “Now we are offering a brochure that should be an easy reference for people.”

Information packets with facts about the new Voter ID law, including applications for absentee ballots, are being made available to senior centers and senior living facilities.

Personal visits are being scheduled to further explain the law to residents, particularly senior citizens or those with disabilities who might not have the standard driver’s license issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Laureen Hagan, Clerk of the Election Bureau, and Mary-Jo Headley, director of Voter Registration, attended extensive training on the Voter ID provided by the Pennsylvania Department of State (DOS) in late August.
Hagan said DOS is mailing new training information to all poll workers in each county. In addition, Delaware County is offering 13 trainings in the communities for all election workers including the judge of elections, minority inspector, majority inspector and machine inspector.

There are 426 precincts in Delaware County and approximately 2,000 election workers.
Members of Council and county workers will also visit community organizations to ensure people are aware of the new law.

“Questions keep coming up about what constitutes proper photo ID. There is also a new application for the absentee ballot that asks for either a person’s Pa. Driver’s License or PennDOT ID number or the last four digits of their Social Security number,” Hagan said. “We will do our best to answer people’s questions and concerns.”

White said information on the new requirements is available on the County website at www.co.delaware.pa.us. People can call 1-877-VotesPA (1-877-868-3772) or visit www.VotesPA.com.

The voter ID laws have been facing legal challenges in various states, including Pennsylvania, so it’s important for voters to stay informed throughout the election cycle.